


Grim Prospects

by marriedreylo (orphan_account)



Series: always (hp crossover universe) [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Ben is the brilliant DADA professor, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore is a meddling fool but also a matchmaker, Exes, F/M, Murder Mystery, Ok strap in folks, Redeemed Ben Solo, Rey is the Herbology Professor, Soft Ben Solo, This fic is violently anti-jkrowling, Virgin Ben Solo, Virgin Rey (Star Wars), spy ben
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:21:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24988978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/marriedreylo
Summary: Ben Solo is the brilliant DADA professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He's been teaching for 14 years, and his loyalty has never waivered -- after a near-fatal accident nearly claims the life of his one true love -- made him owe Albus Dumbledore a life debt. Rey is back in his life and looking more lovely than ever. A grim mood has gripped the country and the new Herbology teacher and the brilliant DADA professor must reunite in order to save the wizarding world. Will love be enough to save them both?A Hogwarts crossover, with murder mystery and soulmate elements
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: always (hp crossover universe) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1785778
Comments: 7
Kudos: 22
Collections: House Dadam





	Grim Prospects

**Author's Note:**

  * For [frak-all (or_ryn)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/or_ryn/gifts).



> This is going to be a long AU! Strap in folks!

_ Mist _ . There is so much mist. As Ben Solo wanders down a small, tidy, London street, a shudder rolls down his spine. He’s from the most wealthy and notoriously pureblood family in the British wizarding world, so he doesn’t have to worry about snatchers. 

He passes the Leaky Cauldron and gets tea at the stand just outside the building. He doesn’t feel like drinking the weak swill they call tea at the Cauldron. Then again, tea leaves are a prized commodity in this day and age. So is fresh water, which is probably why his small tea with a splash of milk costs him four pounds. His eyes roll slightly, and he fiddles with the galleons in his pocket, trying not to expose his wizarding money to a muggle. He pulls out four one-pound coins instead and hands them over. The vendor takes them quickly, his eyes darting around the deserted street. There’s hardly anyone around.  _ No _ , Ben thinks to himself,  _ the dementors have taken care of that _ . He cannot believe the state of the world. 

How have things gone so badly wrong? He supposes it had largely started with him and his wild adolescence. At thirty-five, it’s easy to look back now with twenty-twenty vision on those troubling years. 

As he walks through the Cauldron with his pricey tea, he sees the hunched shoulders of the people in the tiny pub, braced against a storm they know is coming. 

Indeed, it is raining and positively miserable out, as though the weather can’t help but reflect the mood of the country. They’d have to defeat Snoke to see any change in the forecast and that‘s a task which had nearly killed the only person he’s ever cared about, not to mention the countless others who have tried and failed. It’s hard to see hope in the midst of such insurmountable odds.

Still, it’s only two weeks before term starts, and Ben would be lying if he said he doesn’t feel the tingle of excitement that a new year at Hogwarts always brings. Whether as a teacher or a student, Hogwarts has always been his home, although he has a horrible feeling that things might be about to change.

Snoke has been after him his whole life and he doubts that now is any exception. He’s always suspected that Dumbledore might be fielding attacks on him, but surely it’s only a matter of time before he becomes more of a liability than an asset... 

He knows people recognize his face. He hears their mutterings as he wanders through Diagon Alley; they get louder the closer he gets to the Potters’ shop. They have a small shop selling defensive magic — mostly shield charms, although there are a number of other, stronger, charmed objects on sale too.

Sirius Black always seems to be lurking around the shop whenever Ben visits, and it’s his dark, shaggy head he sees poking up casually from behind the counter when he arrives.

“Benji,” Sirius barks in greeting. 

Ben rolls his eyes affectionately. “Is Lily or James around? I need two Patronus shield charms and I know that’s their specialty.” 

“Somewhere,” Sirius replies, then spots the cup of steaming tea in Ben’s hand and his eyes go wide. “Did you have to pay your entire inheritance for that?” He points at the paper cup.

“Only half,” Ben jokes. 

Sirius barks a laugh, and James appears, his head poking out of the beaded curtain between the shop and the back room. 

“Patronus charms?” he asks, obviously having overheard the conversation. “I’ll have those out for you in a moment. Who’s getting the second one?” 

Ben diverts his eyes. “You know a new professor was just hired for the herbology position?” 

James and Sirius both fall into peels of laughter. 

“It’s her, isn’t it?” James asks.

Ben makes a noise of assent and sees Lily’s curtain of red hair appear behind James before her hand slaps the back of his head. 

“Don’t make fun of him!” she snaps playfully. “You were ten times as bad when you were trying to get me to go out with you.”

Ben clears his throat and decides a change of subject will do everyone some good. 

“Where’s Moony?” 

Sirius smiles, although Ben notices he darts a careful glance towards James. “He’s home with Layla.” 

Ben can’t remember the last time he’d seen the little girl Sirius and Remus had adopted together. It’s been too long, that’s for sure. She’s a cute kid, but Ben knows better than to bring up kids in any kind of detail. They all do. Snoke had killed the Potters’ son, Harry, several months ago, not long after his first birthday. 

As Ben had expected, James’ face falls and he disappears back behind the beaded curtain with Lily, leaving Sirius to fill the silence. He gives a grimace but proceeds to do his best.

Not long later, Ben has his gift and bids farewell to the Potters and Sirius, glad to be able to escape the oppressive atmosphere which had descended over the shop. 

He decides to stop in Flourish and Blotts next and, on his way in through the door, nearly runs headlong into a very petite woman with chestnut brown hair and hazel eyes. She looks up slowly and his heart flutters; he’d know that smile anywhere. She’s beaming at him and he thinks he might die a little if she looks away. 

“Fancy seeing you here.”

“Y-yeah. How’ve you been?” His cheeks flush; he’d always been a blushing idiot when it came to her. 

Her thousand-watt smile is doing things to him, sending images flashing through his mind of her bare thighs wrapped around his torso after quidditch games and parties, and the softness of her pussy as it tightly gripped his cock… 

“Ben?” Rey waves a hand in front of his face, and she laughs, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

He laughs too, tries to brush it off, but he feels like he  _ has _ seen a ghost. 

“I just, ah, didn’t think you’d be—” 

“In London?” she asks.

“—Shopping,” he concludes.

She looks slightly wrong-footed. “Yes, well, not all of us have a Gringotts account the size of a black hole, but I do need books, Ben. It’s kind of expected of a professor.” She crosses her arms and frowns. 

_ Fuck, fuck, fuck _ . 

He reaches out and cups her shoulder in his massive palm. “It doesn’t matter what books you have; everyone will love you anyway,” he says softly to her. “How could they not?” 

She blushes and hides her face behind her hand, pink-tinged cheeks peeking out from behind her palm. Ben feels his ears growing hot too.

After a moment, Rey moves away from him and says, “I have to go. Poe is waiting for me.” 

That stops him dead in his tracks. “Poe… Poe Dameron? You’re —?” 

She swats him embarrassedly with her hand. “No, of course not. I have a flatshare with him, but it’s not like that.” 

Ben nods numbly. What right does he have to her anyway? They’ve both moved on. Well, he hopes she has at least. He will only ever love her, even if it breaks him utterly. 

He lets her go with a mumbled, “Goodbye, then,” and tries to move on with his day, although thoughts of her plague him throughout the rest of his shopping trip. When he apparates home to his foolishly empty manor, he feels more alone than he ever has. To combat the feeling of despondency it leaves him with, he pops open a four-hundred-year-old bottle of firewhiskey: the last of the Skywalker reserve. 

He knows that Rey is worth every galleon in his vault, every moment of suffering he’d endured at Snoke’s hands. After all, it was she who’d figured out that Snoke was making Horcruxes, and it was she who’d told him not to go alone to stop him, that he wasn’t alone. He’d listened and it had nearly cost Rey her life. It had definitely cost Ben his freedom, but freedom seems a small price to pay for still being able to see her smile. 

*~*~* 

As usual, Ben apparates to Hogsmeade on the first of September. Although he’s desperate to catch another glimpse of Rey, perhaps even a sideways glance from her, he doesn’t want to push his luck, so he climbs into the first available private carriage he finds and closes the door behind him. 

He immediately realizes he’s not alone, however. Albus Dumbledore is sitting on the seat opposite him, as regal and serene as usual, apparently completely unperturbed at Ben’s unwitting interruption. An audible sigh escapes his lips. 

“Dumbledore, sir.” 

Dumbledore frowns. “I thought you’d be happier to see me, given the nature of the new staff appointments this year.” 

Ben glowers. “You planned this. You know she’s the reason I turned and now you’re using her to keep me in line!” He hardly believes he’s daring to speak to his boss in this way, not to mention that Dumbledore is one of the most trusted and revered members of the wizarding community. Still, he can feel his anger bubbling menacingly beneath the surface at the knowledge that he’s being manipulated and, moreover, that there’s nothing he can do about it. 

“Benjamin, if I didn’t know she was the reason you turned, how would I be able to guarantee that your loyalty won’t stray this year?” 

Ben is indignant and annoyed all at once. “My loyalty hasn’t faltered. Ever since you recruited me—“ 

When he speaks, Dumbledore’s tone is still annoyingly calm. “Since I recruited you fourteen years ago, you have been to Knockturn Alley and spoken with active Death Eaters a multitude of times.” Dumbledore looks over his half-moon spectacles at him and Ben swears he feels his cool, blue gaze pierce his soul. “Each time, I have simply let it go. I knew your loyalty would never truly waiver... unless you were given due cause.” 

Ben scoffs, although he feels shaken to realize that Dumbledore must suspect he will be given ‘due cause’ imminently. Why else hire Rey now?

“So you think Snoke is just going to jump out of the woodwork at Hogwarts and call me back?” 

Dumbledore pauses and adjusts his glasses on his crooked nose. 

“I think I need to know that the lingering darkness will not be able to call to you, as it has so many other great witches and wizards. You are gifted beyond your years, young Solo, but you are not impervious to temptation. Better not to pretend you are.” 

Dumbledore withdraws a hand from within his indigo robes and wraps sharply on the roof of the coach. Ben studies it as they snap forward. It looks… necrotic. He is about to raise the point to Dumbledore when the older man leans forward to speak, his voice low now and tinged with urgency.

“I am dying, Ben, and I suspect Dark Lord Snoke will likely recall you soon.“ Dumbledore flexes his hand and, from the grimace which spreads across his lined face, Ben realizes it must be paining him greatly. “He will have questions for you —“ There’s a long pause, during which Dumbledore seems to be lost in thought, or memory before he proceeds. “I suspect Snoke is afraid of you,” he says pensively. “You have power he cannot dream of.” 

A long silence stretches between them, filled only by the clatter of wheels bumping over cobbles. Ben wonders briefly if he should indulge the old man. 

“No,” he says eventually. He had heard the prophecy made after young Harry Potter’s death and he doesn’t believe it. Trelawney had always been an old fraud, besides. 

“Benjamin...” 

“I’m not interested,” Ben says, slipping his cool mask of detached disinterest back into place. 

Dumbledore sighs.“Very well. You may find you change your mind in the coming weeks or months.” 

Before Ben can respond, Dumbledore disapparates with a loud crack, leaving him to stew over what he’s just learned. 

*~*~* 

Ben takes his place at the staff table. The great hall is buzzing with excitement and the chitter-chatter of children’s voices. He feels a strange sense of contentment wash over him. The chair next to him scrapes on the hardwood floor and a petite woman, whose body he knows all too well, sits next to him. 

“Ben, fancy seeing you here!” Rey says cheerfully. She’s joking, of course, and it warms his frosty heart. She has always been the light at the end of the tunnel of his life. 

He cracks a smile and looks over to her. Immediately, his lips fall open slightly.

“You look...” He swallows hard and takes in her dusky pink robes and black witches hat. He feels like he wants to shout from the staff table that she is his. Except she  _ isn’t _ his, is she? 

He realizes he’s completely lost his train of thought and is plainly staring into her eyes. 

“That bad, huh?” There’s warmth in Rey’s voice; she knows he’s admiring her. 

“No!” he says quickly, coming back into himself. “You look amazing, those robes look amazing on you,” he gushes as his cheeks pink. 

“Why, thank you, Benji.” 

His heart kicks up a few beats per minute. He doesn’t let just anyone call him Benji. “I’m sorry about our little misunderstanding in Diagon Alley.” 

“Nonsense, you’re fine.” She slips her hand under the table and squeezes his knee once, then puts it back on the table, a blush to mirror his tinting her cheeks. 

_ Yes, this is going to be an interesting year _ , Ben thinks to himself, as Dumbledore rises to open the feast. 

*~*~* 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi I love feedback!


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